U.S. Defense Secretary Says US Looking to Deploy Ballistic Missiles In Pacific Region
This only makes sense that the U.S. should start deploying ballistic missiles when the North Koreans, Russians, and Chinese are doing the same thing:
With the new Pentagon chief’s signal that Washington plans to consult with its allies on the placement of intermediate-range missiles in Asia, Seoul is again put in a difficult position, concerned that its relations with Beijing and Pyongyang could be complicated if South Korea is chosen as the deployment site.
However, the Korean Ministry of National Defense said on Monday that it has not yet held any official discussions with the United States on the placement of intermediate-range missiles in Korea, nor is it considering such deployment at the moment.
Ahead of a visit to Seoul this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper was asked by reporters Saturday if the Pentagon was considering deploying ground-based intermediate-range missiles in Asia, to which he responded, “Yes. I would like to. But let’s be clear, I’m talking about conventional weapons.”
Washington was previously unable to pursue ground-based missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers because of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, an arms control pact with Russia dating back to 1987, which the United States withdrew from last Friday.
“Right now, we don’t have plans to build nuclear-tipped INF-range weapons,” said Esper. As to the timeline, he said, “I would prefer months … But these things tend to take longer than you expect.”
The move is expected to prompt protests by Russia, China and North Korea, and analysts fear the start of a new arms race. Experts have pointed out that the first U.S. intermediate missile deployments are likely to counter China, rather than Russia.
Joong Ang Ilbo
You can read more at the link, but I would be surprised if South Korea is chosen as a location unless the peace talks with North Korea collapse and lead to another provocation cycle. Deploying ballistic missiles to South Korea would be a great deterrent option to execute in response to a future provocation cycle.
I suspect Japan is where the US wants to place them, likely toward the southern islands to be able to pivot East (China) or Northeast (Nork land) It also allows Trump to tell Kim fatty the third it’s not only about him.
The U.S. should never have pulled the missiles out of S.K. in 1977. The sergeant missile (nuk and convential warheads) was a good deterrent at the time for both N.K. and China. The range was stated it was 85 miles max shoot, but we knew all that was needed was a change in the guidance section and the range could be much greater. Also, if we had to shoot to Viet Nam we were there. After the Viet Nam war ended the missiles were pulled out.